


Danse Macabre

by Makiaru



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Dark, Senju Tobirama Needs a Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-14 07:08:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29663598
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Makiaru/pseuds/Makiaru
Summary: When Madara met Hashirama's younger brother he believed him to be a bit stuck up. He thought Tobirama was neigh unshakable and wouldn't show emotions if it was the only way to survive. This changed when he was called in to deal with a stalker case.
Relationships: Senju Tobirama & Uchiha Madara
Comments: 6
Kudos: 46





	Danse Macabre

Madara had been friends with Hashirama since they were both teens. Madara had been popular in the teen rebel sort of way and Hashirama had been new. Madara did his schoolwork and his tests more than adequate but his attendance and behaviour were just a bit of an issue with the teachers. So when as a punishment for skipping, again, he had to guide a new kid around the school he figured that that was a perfect excuse to skip some more. And as far as punishments went this wasn’t bad. He wasn’t a guide type of person but he could pretend to be for a day. Then he met Hashirama.

Hashirama was loud, overly enthusiastic, dramatic and endlessly cheerful. Madara hated him at first sight. But Hashirama wasn’t the type to let people hate him. He didn’t notice if people hated him and he remained an overly affectionate loving puppy. Who could not love that? Hashirama had just moved there after the divorce of his parents. He and his younger brother Itama lived with his mother, he played football and had been on the swimming team at his last school. He wanted to be a doctor, he had an actual puppy (Madara thought the mother had bought it to placate her kids after the divorce), he hated homework, but really loved his new school. That was pretty much all Hashirama told him during his tour.

They shared a few classes, math, literature, biology and physics (Hashirama hated physics). Madara’s presence at first made sure nobody bullied Hashirama. Hashirama’s presence made sure that after about a week everybody loved him. Madara still skipped classes and still talked back to teachers but he was send to the principal’s office less after Hashirama came to school.

Now it had been years and Hashirama was in a steady relationship with Mito and he was almost a doctor. Madara was a detective. Recently promoted. They said he was good with people. He hadn’t laughed in their face but he had a good laugh with Izuna about it afterwards.

So when Hashirama asked him to come over for dinner, he'd said yes. He came over for dinner a lot and while the invite wasn’t really necessary most of the time it was nice every once in a while to get one. When Hashirama asked if he had time Friday afternoon, Madara didn’t think much of it and readily agreed with whatever Hashirama had planned. He had never expected it to involve a suit and a piano concert.

“Mito couldn’t come and Itama is out of town.” Hashirama said nervously.

“So I’m a last resort?”

“No, No, not at all. I just thought that you might not like it as much. But I’m really glad you came!” Hashirama gushed.

“Why are we here anyway? This really is more of a Mito thing.”

“For my brother ofcourse.”

“You just said Itama wasn’t here.”

“Other brother.”

Madara tended to forget that Hashirama had two more brothers. In the divorce Itama and Hashirama went with their mother while Tobirama and Kawarama went with their father. He had never actually met them even though the brothers had reunited about a year ago. He also couldn’t remember a whole lot about them. So he was slightly miffed that he was pulled here just to meet one of the brothers. He was sure Hashirama’s brother was nice but he was also sure they could meet in a more relaxed place.

Hashirama pulled him to two balcony seats and nodded that it was about to begin. Hashirama after that spend about an hour nearly completely silent. That had to be a first.

Madara could understand the silence, the music was beautiful. And for as far as Madara could see so was the pianist. Madara never had been one to put much thought to what classical music was supposed to represent but he could create an image with this. This was autumn in a way. It was a warmness that came with coming inside after a cold day. It was fun and playful and sad at the same time. It was bright and colourful without being blinding, it was warm arms and tea, it was family and love, it was the shortening of days that made it easy to see both sunrise and sunset. It was beautiful. Madara was awed. He was still slightly awestruck during the break and when Hashirama got pulled away by his internship councillor , because of course this is a place doctors go, he didn’t really mind.

The part after the break was breath-taking in a different way. This was spring, a breeze, the birds, the slight warming of the temperature, the opening of flowers, the waking up after a the cold months, freedom, the start of new things. The entire concert the collection of songs seemed intend to describe spring.

Madara was still searching for words to describe this to Hashirama. To explain that it didn’t matter his previous ideas of fun he would gladly join his friend again. He did want to go to sports games and watch series on the couch but this would be fine as well. Hashirama laughed and said he had to go to the bathroom and that Madara had a couple more moments to find words.

“Did you like it?” A voice behind him spoke.

He turned around to ask the person if there even was a possibility to not like it but froze.

The person standing in front of him was tall, barely shorter than Hashirama. He had white hair and red eyes. He wore a black suit that most definitely suited him better than Madara’s suit suited him. This was the pianist that had kept him spellbound the entire afternoon.

“Beautiful.” Madara managed eventually.

The left corner of the mouth of the pianist twitched. “I’m glad you enjoyed it. You’re Madara, right?”

Madara nodded. “How do you..?”

“I’m sorry I forgot to introduce myself. I’m Tobirama. I apologize if my brother pulled you along unwillingly.” He leaned against one of those high round tables that seemed to be scattered around the hallways of concert buildings.

“No it’s fine. It was beautiful.”

“I’m glad.” Tobirama now gave something that could be interpreted as a smile. “When Hashirama informed me that he was taking you, the way he said it made it sound like he more or less manipulated you into it.”

“Yes,” Madara laughed. “He more or less did manipulate me. Though I’m glad he did.” He really had to hit himself over the head so he would stop staring. He knew he was gay since halfway through high school. He actually figured out thanks to Hashirama whining that Madara never liked any girls. And when he’d told Hashirama he was gay. Hashirama complained that he never liked any boys. He was just picky. Izuna once said that he was only attracted to not normal people. Looking at Hashirama’s brother he agreed. “You play beautifully.”

Before Tobirama could respond Hashirama joined them with a screech of Tobi!

“Don’t call me Tobi.” Tobirama replied in a tone flatter than the table he was leaning against.

“I think it’s a lovely name.” Madara was not above teasing people to get rid of uncomfortable feelings. Feelings like liking the brother of his best friend that he just met. The glare he got in response was priceless.

“I got us reservations at the restaurant. We should leave now.” Tobirama said while tolerating Hashirama’s hugging.

The restaurant made Madara feel out of place all over again. It was too fancy to ever be comfortable. Hashirama was just as out of place but he didn’t seem to notice. Tobirama however seemed perfectly comfortable.

“I should’ve taken this into account when I chose the restaurant.” Tobirama said conversationally. “He however at some point needs to learn how to behave in places like this.”

“He does.” Madara agreed.

Hashirama said off in a sulk. “Soooo unfair my best friend and my otouto making fun of me together.”

“We’re not making fun of you.” Tobirama said still in that way to polite conversational tone. “We’re merely stating the facts.”

“No fair otouto.”

“Well, being stuck up comes with being a doctor I suppose,” Madara said blithely. “and a pianist.”

Tobirama’s lip twitched in something Madara wasn’t sure was a smile or a twitch of annoyance. “I shouldn’t have bothered I suppose. While I hoped Hashirama would be able to adapt cops are beyond rescue either way.”

Madara bristled, how dare that stuck up… “I’ll have you know that I’m a detective now. And that I became one because of my impeccable people skills.”

“Oh?” Tobirama said turning back to that conversational tone of voice. “I assume class doesn’t come into it until you get promoted a few times more. Or do you only get promoted if you have it?”

Madara felt like he was walking a thin line between amused and annoyed and he wasn’t sure if he liked it or not. He opened his mouth to reply when Hashirama interrupted.

“Guys,” Hashirama tried. “We should try to be nice?”

“We are nice.” Both Tobirama and Madara answered though the tone was vastly different. Madara sounded like he wanted to shout and Tobirama sounded like he was saying something purely for the fact that it was required of him.

“We should be able to finish dinner in a timely manner. I still have to prepare for the evening concert.” Tobirama said calmly. “I do hope you don’t mind anija?’

“No, no. I’m just happy we got to spend time together. You’re always so busy.” Hashirama pouted at the last bit.

“I’ll have more time after I start my research here. Online studying is doable but it doesn’t work as well when you’re trying to do anything past literature studies.”

“You’re going to be right here?” Hashirama squealed and quieted after he actually seemed to notice people glaring about the noise.

“Yes, there has been a lab here that expressed interest in my research proposal.”

Madara grumbled. “I thought you were a pianist.”

“I am.” Tobirama agreed easily. “I am however also a chemist. I’ve been doing research for a while and switching to piano when I finish a certain line of research.”

“Tobi is sooooooo smart.” Hashirama said happily.

“And I also have to go. I’ll pay and I at least should leave.”

Madara and Hashirama both stood up to protest.

“Currently I think I earn the most out of the three of us, I picked the restaurant, and I invited you. It’s only fair.” Tobirama waved them away.

Madara puffed himself up to shout but Tobirama wasn’t paying attention to him anymore.

“I’ll see you soon Aniki.” Tobirama gave another almost smile. “It was a pleasure to meet you Madara. I’m sure we’ll meet again.”

* * *

Madara had the pieces Tobirama played stuck in his head for near a month. His brothers, his co-workers, Mito, and even Hashirama teased him with it.

When he saw Tobirama it was at a dinner at Hashirama’s house with both Itama and Kawarama.

“So how is life living in one place treating you?” Madara asked. He wasn’t sure if he tried to ask a serious question or if he wanted to start another argument.

“It’s pleasant to sleep in your own bed for a bit.” Tobirama answered with the same calm tone he had also used at the restaurant.

Madara didn’t know if Tobirama was making a dig at how Madara had just said that he’d spend three nights barely sleeping or just stating a fact. So he teased back. “No girl asking you to sleep in theirs?”

The wrinkling of Tobirama’s nose was a fun response. “A girl at the lab offered as did a girl working in a coffee shop.”

Madara was very intent to get that slight wrinkling back. It looked cute. “Afraid you’ll disappoint?”

Mito looked on and almost giggled while Hashirama looked like he didn’t know what to do to stop this or if he should laugh and let them continue.

“I’m sure I will.” Tobirama said finally getting ready to tease back. “Girls tend to have that effect on me, guys are just more interesting. From your question can I assume that this is a problem you encounter more often? I’m sure Hashirama is willing to look at it.”

Hashirama being the naïve idiot he was hugged Madara and exclaimed he would help him with any issues he had. While Hashirama ignored the slight smirk on Tobirama’s face, Madara had a harder time just doing that.”

“I have no problems whatsoever.” Madara hissed. “I’m just selective and don’t want to share my bed with whomever asks.”

“I see.” Still that slight smirk.

This meeting set the tone for all of the following ones. Madara hated to say he actually enjoyed this and he figured Tobirama enjoyed it too to some extend. He also very much enjoyed it to see Tobirama make the same remarks to Hashirama and Hashirama not responding because they went right over his head. Like the smart person he was supposed to be he didn’t try with Mito.

Kawarama gave those same half smiles that Tobirama gave. He was a lot like Tobirama in the sense that he seemed to find being a normal human and not extraordinary was something below him. Kawarama was a year younger than Tobirama and 3 years younger than Hashirama. He was working on his master degree in mathematics something and he was a competitive hockey player. He like Tobirama seemed to force himself to sit perfectly still and at the same time seemed incapable of it. He wanted to help Mito with cooking, Hashirama with setting the table and clearing it, doing the dishes, making tea. He like Tobirama refused to do nothing and he like Tobirama refused to be bad at anything he did.

Itama was pleasantly normal in comparison. He laughed at Hashirama and had easy conversations with Madara. Yes, he was smart and he’d been good at sports at school but nothing this extreme. The thing was that Hashirama and Itama both had hobbies and friends while their brothers seemed to lack those two things. He seemed to enjoy life and love things while both Tobirama and Kawarama seemed to be too busy for that. Things normal people did for fun they did as a job and they didn’t seem to get the same sense of enjoyment out of it that normal people did.

* * *

The first time Madara saw Tobirama in a different light was when he was called to a neighbourhood close to the city centre. He was called to a flat’s third floor where he found a clearly shaken Tobirama. “Tobirama?”

“You know mr. Senju?” His coworked asked intrigued.

“Yes, we…” Madara didn’t really know what to call their relationship.

“Madara.” Tobirama had looked up at him. “I’m…..”

This had to be the first time Madara had seen Tobirama at a loss for words.

“What’s wrong?” Madara wasn’t sure who to direct the question to, his colleague or Tobirama. He wasn’t sure what to think of a Tobirama that didn’t make snarky remarks.

Tobirama seemed to be getting himself together a bit but still seemed unsure of how to explain the situation.

“He found a lot of his personal things gone when he came home from work. No actual expensive things just personal thing.” His partner replied.

“Things like?” Madara dreaded the answer because he thought he already knew it.

“Things like personal pictures of him and his brothers, his favourite clothes and books, a blanket he had an emotional attachment to, gifts from his brothers, things like that.” His partner answered. “In return he got a number of pictures and a replacement blanket. Small nick knacks. Gifts.”

“Pictures?”

“I’ll show them.” The grimace didn’t prove much good.

The pictures were innocent enough in the sense that there were no nudes or any of the likes. They were terrifying in the sense that there were pictures of Tobirama walking down the street, sitting in the park, at work, one groggily making coffee in his kitchen, one asleep on his couch.” The one in the kitchen was made from a distance, through the window across from it. The one on the couch however was frighteningly close.

“The team is already looking for hidden cameras.” His partner said hesitantly.

Madara nodded. “We can have the rest of this conversation at the station.” In case there actually were bugs and because Tobirama didn’t look like he really wanted to be here.

Once at the station Tobirama seemed to have built up his shields again and had that carefully blank face Madara had come to expect from him.

“Are there any hints of someone who might be your stalker? Ex-boyfriends, people you rejected? Those girls you told me about the second time we met?”

Tobirama turned away annoyed. “All my break-ups were amicably. Two out three got a new partner now and the last was never the type to stay in long relationships. Part of the reason for the break-up. Those girls didn’t seem all that interested in anything long term. The closest I got to weird was that I got a few flowers delivered about two weeks ago. Without a return address” He started. “Then there was a poem three days later. A gift after another four days. ”

“What did you do with them?”

“I gave the flowers to Hashirama. He actually likes that sort of thing. I’m not home nearly often enough to properly take care of them anyway. The poem I gave to my manager. There was no return address. I tend to send at least a thank you note to fans who send me stuff. The music box I gave to Kawarama. He likes Grieg.”

“Fans?”

“Grieg?” His partner asked at the same time.

“A composer.” Tobirama didn’t look all that impressed. “As for fans, as a pianist I actually had some of those. I still occasionally get cards that ask me to return to playing. Sometimes I get books with sheet music. The sheet music I usually keep. I get originals every once in a while. I give all of those back to my manager, let him deal with that. As long as there are return addresses I send a thank you note. Not all of them have one but most do.”

That might be the most he had ever heard Tobirama talk in one go. “Any of those that stood out to you and why did these? He might’ve started with one of those. Autographs, thank you notes. Those are the things he would most likely like to have.”

“Because _I_ got them.” Tobirama stressed the I. “Usually they are sent to my manager and he gives them to me. But other than that no.” Tobirama seemed to browse through the list of gifts and letter he got. “Wait yes. For a while now I’ve been getting notes about how wonderful I played, how wonderful I looked on the stage.” Madara shared that sentiment but very much didn’t want to say so to Tobirama. He didn’t need the ego boost. “All without a name. Not all that unusual but there were a lot of them and they were just very similar.”

“Fans you saw more often at performances?” Madara was sure there was a different name for piano concerts but he couldn’t think of it… re.. something. Madara didn’t care anymore when Tobirama didn’t correct him.

Tobirama shook his head. “No.”

“I believe I once sent a letter to some band I liked when I was a teen. I’m quite sure they never sent anything back.”

“Bands do have a larger fanbase than pianists.” Tobirama replied. “I have some fans, not armies of them.” He actually seemed grateful for that.

Madara nodded. This was probably all he was going to get. “You can stay somewhere else for a while?”

“My boyfriend has some space. I’ll ask if he’s alright with me staying over for a bit or otherwise I’ll ask Anija.”

Madara nodded. “We need a name and contact information.” He hadn’t been aware that Tobirama even had a boyfriend.

Tobirama nodded, called his boyfriend and went to stay with him for a bit.

They checked the houses across the street but most of those people had lived there long before Tobirama came to the country. The couple in the house directly across from his however had reported a break in about a month ago. There was nothing stolen so they hadn’t reported it, just replaced the locks and went on with their life.

* * *

The next time he saw Tobirama was at a dinner at Hashirama’s place. Tobirama apparently hadn’t seen fit to tell his brother more than the bare minimum. In other words Hashirama knew there’d been a break in and that Tobirama had temporarily moved in with his boyfriend.

The dinner was better, Tobirama was back to being his snarky self and Madara had quite a bit of fun. Both ignored the fact that Tobirama had a stalker just for the sake of Hashirama not being dramatic. They wouldn’t be able to ignore it after tomorrow afternoon when Tobirama came home from work and the entire world seemed to have gone to hell.

Tobirama had had a long day and he was quite done with everything. He occasionally really hated people. He had tried to get things done that he’d asked one of the interns to do. It was a really easy job and somehow they still messed it up. He stayed later than he wanted to make up for the stupid mistake and he knew he would have to get in early tomorrow as well. All he wanted right now was to go home and curl up with his Boyfriend. They could sleep and if Ayumi woke up with some sudden insight they could play shogi until he fell asleep again. They could cuddle and sleep and cuddle. His evening plans however got ruined quite thoroughly. “I’m home.” He called. He was relatively quiet about it just in case his boyfriend was already asleep. It had taken him a while to get over the surprise of how much this place felt like home. The clutter, the random notes, and the brain training things. He wouldn’t mind moving here permanently. He knew Ayumi wouldn’t mind much either. If only for the breakfast and dinner Tobirama made that he loved. His happy musings came to an abrupt stop when he stepped into the living room and screamed.

Madara was having a good day. He got through two cases and he was done with all the paperwork for once. He could go home at an early hour and he could finish watching some Netflix series if nothing terrible happened. Of course something terrible had to happen. He got a call somewhere just before ten and was called to an apartment somewhere in the south part of the city. He sighed and got ready. He vaguely recognized the address but he didn’t know why. When he got there it was for the second time in four months that he got to see Tobirama completely out of it, more so than the last time he had seen him shaken. His partner gestured inside while she kept dealing with a shivering Tobirama.

The entire living room was covered in pictures. Pictures of both the boyfriend and Tobirama. Pictures with a crossed out boyfriend and a wall that had MINE written in red marker. And in the centre of the room a very dead boyfriend.

Madara wasn’t certain how to respond to this. The stalker was clearly escalating and that had proven very bad for the boyfriend.

He came back outside to look at Tobirama who was saying that he could go to an hotel. That he’d be fine. “Give me one reason not to call Hashirama.”

Tobirama shook his head. “No. No. It’s fine I can deal. It’s my fault.” That last bit was barely more than a whisper.

“It’s not.” Madara said firmly. “It’s all on the stalker.”

“If I hadn’t moved here this never would’ve happened!”

Madara wasn’t one to sugar-coat things. “Wouldn’t it? How could you predict this? In court it’s only manslaughter if there was a reasonable chance that your actions would lead to the dead of another.”

“And there wasn’t?” Tobirama said. “I knew I had a stalker and still moved here.”

“So far, your stalker hadn’t proven violent. Creepy, yes. Violent, no. Did you tell your boyfriend what was happening when you moved in with him?”

Tobirama nodded.

“And he didn’t think it was a threat or he would’ve done something right?”

Tobirama nodded. “He would’ve.”

“Could your boyfriend be described as smart?” Madara asked next. He couldn’t imagine Tobirama with anyone stupid. He’d either get bored or grow crazy within a week.

“Ayumi is a genius.” Tobirama hissed.

“And he didn’t see the risk? If he didn’t was there any chance that you could?” Madara didn’t want to know how smart someone had to be to be considered a genius by Tobirama.

“No, but..”

“If he had the same information as you and he made the same choice as you and it’s your fault that he’s dead. Then it’s his fault as well. We’ll just consider this a suicide and move on.” Madara got up.

“No, please, no.” A small part of him knew that Madara was bluffing but in his emotional state he didn’t want to take the risk.

“We’ll inform his family and continue the investigation.” Madara said. “For now I’m going to put you in witness protection.”

“What? No!”

“He proved perfectly capable of murder and we’re not sure how he’ll move when he finds out you’re not interested.” Madara frowned. “He seems to be of the mind-set if I can’t have him no one can.”

“We’re certain it’s a he?” Tobirama asked clamping on to the tiny bit of information Madara seemed to have.

“No.” The response sounded slightly guilty. “It’s just easier to talk this way.” And there were more male than female stalkers. To be fair there were more female than male victims. Usually people they knew.

After that there were a few changes. The first was that Tobirama’s brothers had to be informed and that it led to very worried calls from all of his family. The second was that the boyfriend's family had to be informed as well. They seemed to switch between being angry at Tobirama and worried for him. Apparently they’d liked Tobirama well enough and were sad that he seemed to be in trouble. The third was the deliveries to the police. First the inquiries, then the threats, then the murder of one of the officers and the theft of every and all information on Tobirama they had.

Tobirama was moved again and was now put under permanent police protection and when Madara was put on Tobirama’s detail he learned how lucky Hashirama had been that he went with their mother and not their father. 

Hashirama’s mother had been perfectly capable of supporting her two children but had never been rich. She had been nice and warm and spent as much time with her children as she could. She clearly loved then very much and had loved both Tobirama and Kawarama even after their father had refused contact.

Hashirama’s father had been different and that had been the reason for the divorce. Hashirama’s father was strict and expected and demanded much of his children. He had more or less forced the perfect grades and later the perfect piano and hockey playing. He’d demanded perfection and there was no rest for either boy until they got things right. They didn’t have to enjoy what they did as long as they were good at it. And Hashirama’s brothers had eventually bowed before their father’s iron rule. They had taken his lessons to heart in a way that had completely destroyed his children.

When forced to sit still for longer than a couple of minutes Tobirama got agitated. When he couldn’t practice or work he started new things. Things he worked and worked and worked on until he got it right. What was way more worrying was the slight flinches whenever he got something wrong. The agitation that seemed to be born out of fear instead of some personal quirk. The way he didn’t seem to understand joy and that the closest he got was calm. Eventually his guard had gotten him a pencil and a sketchbook and just told him to draw. Tobirama worked until he was good at it. He said daily goals and when he didn’t meet them he was surprised when his guard ordered him to sleep or eat. He was mostly falling back on old behavior to forget that it was his fault Ayumi was dead. When he wasn't occupied with something he was staring at Ayumi's shogi board, his notes, and his favourite books. He curled up and just wished he had his boyfriend back. He couldn't help but feel that this was his fault. He might not have known this would happen. He might've done nothing himself. But if Ayumi never met him he would still be alive. He was good at saying things were his fault. That meant it was something he could work on. If it was his mistake that he had a less than perfect score he knew how to make things better. He could do something. But this was his fault and he had no clue what to do. How to fix this. How to make it better. Nothing would bring back Ayumi. 

Madara had seen this kind of behaviour before and he didn’t like it. Not exactly this, but the self-punishing and the self blaming when whoever usually dished out the punishment and blame wasn’t there. The flinching at mistakes. The obsessive doing of things he had been ordered to do. In that case it had been cleaning and there had still been bruising on the boy’s arms. And Madara decided to find Tobirama something to do that wasn’t possible to do right or wrong. Reading of fiction and watching Netflix surprisingly did go wrong at first. He started to note inconsistencies and made notes about things that went wrong and could go better. Madara then gave him board games. Not the competitive kind, Madara was a sore loser and didn’t know how Tobirama would respond to either one of them losing. He went with the together against the game kind. The puzzles and surprisingly this worked. Because Tobirama did seem to enjoy a challenge. He also enjoyed games like shogi but Madara wasn’t quite ready to play that with him again until he himself got better at it.

Overall things weren’t good but they weren’t as terrible as they could be. Until the first Tuesday of march that is. There was the head of Senju Butsuma delivered in a box to the police station with a note that he’d never hurt Tobirama again. Madara didn’t know how the stalker knew this. He’d added a note in one of the files that it was possible Butsuma had hurt his children but he was quite certain those files were well secured. But if those weren’t, then neither was Tobirama’s location.

Madara returned to the safe house where one of his coworkers was slowly bleeding out on the ground. The ambulance came and the probably would be able to save him but it was terrifying nonetheless. The other thing he found, or not found, was a missing Tobirama.

* * *

Tobirama woke in a unfamiliar room. It was bright in the way rooms in modern buildings made with too much glass were. He groaned and tried to get rid of the headache.

“You’re awake!” The voice was gleeful.

Tobirama had never been good with people and as such he wasn’t sure how to respond to this. He didn’t know who the guy was and he was quite certain this was his stalker and kidnapper.

“I didn’t want to hurt you but I couldn’t find another way to get you here.”

“Here?”

“Safe!” The guy exclaimed happily. “I’ve taken you away from all the people who would hurt you!”

“You what?!”

“I’ll protect you now!” The guy said happily.

Tobirama studied him. Out of the two of them Tobirama would say that he himself was the older one.

His kidnapper looked young. About two or three years younger than Tobirama. He looked plain and quite unremarkable but he still looked somewhat familiar to Tobirama. “I know we haven’t see each other in a while and you probably have a headache."

Tobirama didn’t know where he’d seen this guy before but he was pretty sure he wasn’t supposed to say that to his kidnapper.

“I changed a bit.” The guy continued stroking his hair a bit guiltily. “I lost weight though! You said it would be healthier and that people would probably leave me alone then!”

Tobirama recognized the guy then. He’d been two years his junior in highschool. He’d been smart, a bit overweight and terribly shy. Tobirama had occasionally stood up for him when the bullies were going too far. They hadn’t been close and Tobirama back then had his own issues with bullies. “Kyo.” He said tiredly. “Why would you take me away?”

“To keep you safe of course.” Kyo said happily. “I’m so glad you remember me! It don’t think you ever saw me at your recitals. I was a bit shy still. I was afraid you wouldn’t recognize me. But I’m soo glad you do.”

Tobirama dug through his mind what he’d known from Kyo.

Kyo had been the slightly neglected son of a model and a ceo. In looks and brains he took more after his father than his mother. He had been rich but he’d been bullied quite badly. He and Tobirama hadn’t been friends.

“What about the people who weren’t hurting me?” Tobirama tried.

Kyo huffed. “Your boyfriend got arrested!”

Tobirama had been told about that. Ayumi had told him he’d done drugs for a while and once when he was high he’d broken into a museum. He was fifteen and got off with a warning. “Ayumi wouldn’t have hurt me.”

“You don’t know that!” Kyo seemed convinced of it.

“What about Kawarama, Itama, Hashirama?”

“Your brother was just like them! He was also one of those popular jocks. His friends are even worse. They aren’t safe!” Kyo seemed unsure for a bit. “I can bring Kawarama here?”

Tobirama paled. That was the exact opposite of what he wanted. “No, no Kawarama wouldn’t like being away from hockey, and work and sports.” Tobirama didn’t like that either. “I do wonder how I’m going to get to work from here.”

Kyo blinked. “You don’t need to!”

“What do you mean I don’t need to?”

“You’re safe here!” Kyo jumped happily around. “You don’t need money! I’ve got enough money for the two of us.”

“I enjoy work.” Tobirama tried. He did enjoy work for as far as he enjoyed things. Piano and science were always things his father let him do without disturbing him. He could always say he was learning or practicing.

“Oh!” Kyo pulled Tobirama along with him. “I made you a lab here!” He seemed proud and to be fair it was a beautiful lab. “There’s a piano upstairs. I’ve got you a grand and an upright. I tried to get you the ones you prefer playing on but it won’t be here for at least another four weeks.”

Tobirama didn’t say he might miss his colleagues. He would be lying, at least a bit, but he would miss his brothers. He couldn’t say that though in case Kyo got more stupid ideas. “Thank you, that’s very generous.” He already missed his freedom though. He’d loved his freedom the moment he could get away from his father. He had loved to be able to make some of his own choices. He’d loved to just be outside for a few moments longer than was strictly necessary.

Kyo beamed and pulled Tobirama along once more. “Will you play for me?”

Tobirama didn’t know what would happen if he denied Kyo but he could do this. He started with some of his favourite pieces but he hadn’t even noticed when he switched to more melancholy songs.

Kyo was sitting on a chair a bit away from the piano. “That’s sad. Why are you sad Tobirama?”

Tobirama didn’t know how to answer that and he was get annoyed by all the things he didn't know. But how was he supposed to tell his kidnapper that he was sad that he was stuck in here? How would his kidnapper respond when he told him that.

“I know things were very sad.” Kyo said moving over to Tobirama. “But you will be happy here.” He reached out to touch Tobirama’s face.

Tobirama couldn’t help it, he flinched. He was locked up, with someone with complete power over him. He was scared and he didn’t know how to act and he didn’t know what would happen if he didn’t do things right. He forced himself to sit still when Kyo reached out once more.

“I won’t hurt you.” He carded his hand through Tobirama’s hair. “Everything will be fine now. They won’t hurt you anymore.”

* * *

Madara was more than a little frantic and the paniced reaction he got from the Senju brothers didn’t make things better. It had been three weeks since the second oldest Senju had been taken. Three weeks in which his colleague laid in an hospital bed. Three weeks Tobirama had been kept captive by some mad man. A man who’d graduated from stalking to killing and kidnapping with little to no hesitation.

His partner came storming into the office saying that Hiruka woke up. That they got a description of the assaulter. That they had a sketch. The only thing the sketch solved was that whoever had taken Tobirama was rich. The man on the picture was a hitman a good one and one easy enough to find.

When Madara had ordered the man to tell him about who hired him the hitman just laughed.

“Why would I tell you?” The man laughed. “It’s bad for business.”

“Well seeing as you won’t have much of a business after this I don’t think it matters much.”

The man glared. “Still. What use is it to me to tell you?”

And Madara tried. He tried to find deals his boss would approve and would satisfy this man. He tried to argue. He tried to talk him around. He tried to wear him down. He tried everything he could think of while his team tried to track who paid this man enough that he would kidnap Tobirama.

* * *

Almost six months have passed and Tobirama feels numb. He feels dead inside. He spent three months trying to escape and all it got him was a tracker on his wrist, cuts and bruises from a run through the forest, and punishments where he got locked up in a room. When he’d used chemicals to break the lock and tracker his lab was taken away. The locking up was the same punishment he got when he made any snarky or rude comments at Kyo. He tried to please Kyo enough that he’d be let him go. All that got him was gentle kisses and hugs. Tobirama hated it and still flinched away more often than not. Kyo got angry then, sometimes at him sometimes at others. He hid in his room as he hadn’t done that since he was a child. He knew it was no protection, the door wouldn’t lock from the inside and the space was too open to hide properly. But Kyo usually left him be. He would apologize the next day with gifts and flowers. He had a collection of music boxes, sheet music, books, at first things for in his lab, some new instruments to try, a teddy that looked like the one his mother had given him as a kid. He nearly cried when he got his mother’s blanket back. He had curled himself up in it and prayed that this weird nightmare would end. Kyo liked to give Tobirama things. Things no sane person would ever like to have. By now Tobirama had a collection of pictures of dead former classmates. A dead father. And every time he opened his eyes and looked at the pictures. Every time he got a new picture Tobirama had nightmares that the next picture would be one of his brothers. He threw up when he got a picture of Ayumi. Kyo had been worried that he got sick or that he’d eaten something wrong and spent the entire evening fussing over him.

Kyo liked to touch him. Not sexual but not really friendly either. It was more or less familial. The way a parent held their kids. Kids a lot younger than Tobirama, kids that still ran to their parents for scraped knees. Kids that never grew up like Tobirama had. Kyo liked to talk to Tobirama. Not really with him but somehow expecting answers anyway. He would fill in himself what it was that Tobirama said and go on with the conversation like Tobirama agreed with him.

Tobirama couldn’t stand it. He couldn’t stand the touches, he couldn’t stand the incessant talking, he couldn’t stand the weird restrictions to his movements, he couldn’t stand the closed doors, he couldn’t stand the loneliness that crept up even when he was in Kyo’s company. He couldn’t deal with the fact that he learned how to behave to make things easier. He hated that he fell back in familiar patterns of listening and doing what he was told. He hated that he had to play his hands bloody once more. He hated it even more when Kyo apologized and bandaged his hands. He hated how Kyo made his favourite foods. He hated that he had to accept this. He hated that after the third month he had barely tried to escape anymore because it seemed so futile. He hated that he’d come to accept that as far as cages went this one wasn’t as bad as it could be. It was better than any punishment his father had ever given him. But Tobirama still couldn’t help but hate it.

* * *

Madara has been told he could be obsessive and he was not going to deny it for even a moment. At four months he might know Tobirama better than Tobirama knew himself. He dealt with the other cases, that he got again after a week, with a practiced ease.

He tried to run down everyone who ever worked with Tobirama. He tried to find old teachers and friends when he came across a new trail. He learned that Tobirama didn’t have much friends in highschool. His teachers loved him but his classmates very much did not. Madara wasn’t very surprised. When he started looking into classmate he found something very disturbing. Death. A decent chunk of Tobirama’s old classmates were dead. The deaths seemed to be accidents. They had been written off as accidents. There was too much time between them, the cause of dead was to different and no one had made the connection. All of them went to the same school at roughly the same time.

The car crash that had taken three of Tobirama’s ex classmates was caused by slipping of the road. They crashed against a tree and everyone said it was tragic but no one said it was suspicious. Especially when they found alcohol in everyone’s system. That they hadn’t come from a bar but a beach didn’t matter.

The suicide was only slightly more suspicious but the family had claimed Asaka had been getting more and more paranoid lately. She’d claimed someone was stalking her. That someone moved things in her house around. She had been sleeping badly and had been spouting that she had done something wrong. She had never been really clear on what though.

The break in was obviously more suspicious but no one had ever found who’d done it.

The slip down the stairs was weird but the can of spilled water at the top of the stairs gave an easy enough explanation. Why she had a can of water upstairs was ignored.

The overdose came as no surprise to anyone who’d known him. He had been taking drugs for years and most people thought it would at one point go wrong.

The family of the guy who died by food poisoning had gotten a huge settlement from the company that had made a mistake with the labels.

The sport accident was tragic and had even made the news. But everyone had called it an accident.

The accident at the construction site couldn’t have been prevented the experts said.

Yes, individually they all were tragic accidents. Together they painted a disturbing picture.

Madara went to the school to talk to the teachers and it made things all the weirder. Most teachers that had worked there when Tobirama still went to school were gone. Fired, tragic accidents, death by old age, moved to the other side of the country. There were only three left. Ms. Bell, Mr. Tanaki, Ms. Tezuka.

Miss Bell did remember Tobirama. She sang his praises she thought he was so smart. So serious. He always had his homework done on time. She had been able to talk to him on a way higher level than any of his classmates. When asked about friends she just shook her head. She didn’t think he had any. He was a bit of a loner and you know how kids are with people that are different. She didn’t know if it was bullying or just antisocial behaviour. But Tobirama didn’t have any friends.

Mr. Tanaki could say if it was bullying or anti-social behaviour. It was bullying. He couldn’t remember how often he’d stepped in to try and prevent things from escalating. Teachers however often didn’t care much when it was just one kid versus all of the athletes of the school. Tobirama had been smart, and mr. Tanaki was convinced he was also kind, but Tobirama wasn’t social.

Madara saw how this looked more and more like a morbid sort of offering to Tobirama and he finally got his first suspects when he talked to Miss Tezuka.

She was an old woman. She’d seen a lot and had learned to judge things quickly. She had tried a couple of times to get Kawarama and Tobirama removed from their father but when your father is a successful lawyer there’s not much anyone can do. She also saw that Tobirama had taken to protecting other bullying victims. He had been particularly good at redirecting attention. She stepped in when she could but she knew she had missed many times. When Madara asked about other kids Tobirama protected she had no trouble whatsoever to produce a list of names.

The six kids all seemed to try and connect to Tobirama in some way.

The first had taken up a career as piano teacher. She, if he could believe miss Tezuka, had been soothed by Tobirama many times after the bullies got to her.

The second was a boy, brilliant. He was working hard to get his masters in chemistry. He had been severely injured during one attack from bullies. Thanks to Tobirama he made it out with relatively little lasting damage.

The third had set up an anti-bullying program and was studying psychology. He had been the only one that actually was in Tobirama’s year.

The fourth was working on a degree in medicine. Hashirama actually knew her. She liked working with children who became the victim of abuse.

The fifth was a boy that had set his sight on helping people with any kind of physical impairments with the help of robotics. He was smart and was still close to the second boy.

The sixth donated huge amounts of money to any anti bullying programs he could find.

All of them seemed to respect Tobirama but Madara had his eyes set on three of them. The second, the fourth and the sixth. The second was actually applying for an internship at Tobirama’s lab. The attempt to get close was suspicious. He had some money but not to the extent of the next two. he fourth was getting close to Hashirama as well. People often tried to integrate themselves in the lives of their victim. Plus she had the funds. Her parents were rich and she had access to most of that money. The issue here was that when you worked in medicine especially with the specialization she was following, people would’ve noticed something off. Those people were trained to recognize weirdness. The sixth had the money but did very little to integrate himself into Tobirama’s life.

“What has you troubled?” His colleague sits down next to him.

“Tobirama.”

“Any further leads yet?”

“Out of these six, who would you think most likely to kidnap someone.”

She looked at the files and the notes, turned to her computer and went to their facebook pages. “These two,” She pointed at their files. “don’t follow his professional page on facebook.”

“And you think that matters?”

“He doesn’t have to follow it but it’s innocent enough that he probably wouldn’t have thought twice about it. So yes that narrows it down to these four.” She opened the guest lists for some of the shows. "These two never went to any of his recitals.” She pointed at two more files. “This one, might not be able to buy the tickets. But he,” She pointed at the last file. “most likely should be able to. He however isn’t on any of the guest lists.”

“None of them?”

“None that I can find.”

Madara nodded. “Then there is where we start.”

* * *

Usanagi Kyo wasn’t really what Madara had expected. The man was plain. You would think a man with so much wealth would be able to find a way to stand out. But this man was just plain. His clothes were plain, his hair was plain, his face was plain, he was just plain. Madara was surprised that he even got bullied because he couldn’t imagine a boy like that even being seen. “How can I help you?”

Madara tried to draw on his people skills and the weird etiquette Tobirama had been subtly teaching him. He failed and went back to what he did best. “Do you know Tobirama Senju?”

Kyo looked at Madara just a moment too long. He was just a bit too slow to cover up his panic. “I think I remember the name.”

Madara didn’t buy it. “What do you mean you think you remember the name?!”

“I mean it sounds familiar.” Kyo seemed to have put his game face on. “I mean I’ve heard it before but I’m not sure what his connection to me would be.”

Madara’s partner tutted. “You are aware that you follow him on any and every form social media you have an account on?”

Kyo raised an eyebrow. “I follow many things that don’t interest me.”

“You commented a couple of times.”

“The pianist?” It sounded a bit like a question. It sounded like someone was trying to fake just having remembered where he heard a name and wanting conformation.

“Yes.” Madara’s co-worker was very much not impressed. “We’re going through all possible leads to find him and you’re one of the few people on his site that have the means to stage an abduction like his. It helps that you also went to the same school.” It was smart to never tell people you actually suspected them. Let the link appear paper-thin and don’t spook the suspect. Spooked suspects did terrible things.

“He’s missing? I thought he just quit piano for a while. He has moments like that.” Kyo said now managing to sound worried.

Madara was trying to keep his temper he really was. But it was hard when you didn’t believe the person opposite of you.

“If we could just search your house. “ His co-worker knew they didn’t have an warrant but a cooperating suspect was easier to deal with than a not cooperating one. “We don’t have much to go on but we’re searching any and all leads. His family if worried about him and we don’t want to see anyone turning up dead.”

“Dead?” Kyo asked. “You said missing?”

“So far. But the longer someone is missing the bigger the chances are someone is dead.” If someone deserved a promotion it would be Madara’s co-worker. He did have the people skills. “As I said his family is frantic. They don’t have a body as such they can’t grief for him. But they don’t have a clue where he is. The longer he’s missing the more we try to tell him he’s dead and they can’t believe us. We’re still searching for him as if he’s a live but even we’re losing faith. We just wish we would find him. So we’re going everywhere. So far people have been very helpful. Would you please let us search your house?”

Kyo nodded. “Of course.”

Madara knew that he would never let them into his house unless he was very certain they wouldn’t find him here. They weren’t looking at Tobirama at this instant they were looking for clues.

Kyo hovered and the more Kyo hovered the more Madara became certain there was something to find here.

Madara couldn’t find it but over time he’d learned to trust his gut. Madara was certain something was there and for once his co-worker agreed.

* * *

Tobirama had been reading when Kyo came storming back in and he quickly put his book away. This never meant anything good. “What’s wrong?”

“They found you!” Kyo exclaimed. “I have to hide you. We need to hide you. They think I’ll kill you. I would never kill you. You’ll live forever. You’ll always be perfect.”

Tobirama had felt that there was hope when Kyo said that people had found him. That people were still looking. He felt a sense of dread come over him when Kyo continued. The hiding wasn’t good but the last part was downright disturbing. “What do you mean? No one came here.”

“No, they came to my house. They suspect I have you. They’re not sure. But they’ll look. They might find you.”

Tobirama prayed that the ‘they might find you’ was fast.

“But I can’t let you go. You’re safe here.”Kyo continued.

“If they spent so much time looking for me, surely I’m safe there too?” Tobirama tried.

“No! No! They’ll never be able to keep you safe.” Kyo said frantically. “Don’t worry. I’ll protect you.” Kyo hugged Tobirama not caring when Tobirama tensed. “I know you’re scared. I know you don’t want to go. Don’t worry I won’t let your family take you away from me.”

Tobirama really panicked then. No please not his family. Please don’t let him hurt his family. “I’ll be safe.” Tobirama had to keep him calm. Please, please don’t let him go after his family.

“You’ll be safe.” Kyo crooned now. “I know what to do.”

Dread, dread and fear was all Tobirama could feel. It sounded bad. It sounded very bad.

“In my comics Hydra kept Bucky hidden and safe for a very long time.” Kyo continued. “I can keep you safe like that. You’ll be perfect forever.”

Tobirama didn’t read comics but from Itama’s stories they didn’t sound like something you should try in the real world.

“I’ve read about it. People are looking into it.” Kyo said. “That means they want to hide it. But I know it’s real.” He went from holding Tobirama to petting his hair. “I wanted to spend more time with you and I still have some. I need to get things ready. You’ll be safe. You’ll be mine forever.”

“How exactly are you going to keep me safe forever?”

“Cryostasis.” Kyo said proudly.

That Tobirama had heard of. It was experimental at best but so far it wasn’t it wasn’t very successful. Of the freezing part went perfectly fine, the resurrecting just not so much. “Don’t you think it’s a bad idea to try something that hasn’t been proven by science?”

“It’s a marvellous idea. I’ll get all the things ready.” Kyo seemed happier than when he walked in but Tobirama didn’t take this as a good sign. “Don’t you worry about a thing.” Kyo happily turned around to get this done.

Tobirama need to get out. There was a whole new sense of urgency now. He’d made some plans but they were far from perfect and Tobirama hadn’t wanted to use them unless they were finished. Otherwise it would just be a waste of time and he had to start from scratch again. But right now he didn’t have the option to wait. Now he had to get out.

The getting out of the house was easy. Tobirama had done that tons of times. Sometimes subtle, sneaking out after Kyo, stealing and copying keys or picking the lock. Sometime less subtle, throwing in windows, removing the screws from the door, knocking Kyo out when he came to bring groceries. The getting out was not the problem. He had found tons of ways to do that. The tricky part was the tracker. He could get rid of that but it would take time and it might set of an alarm for Kyo. The worst thing was the actually getting back to civilization afterwards. Tobirama had gotten out as far as half a day from the house. Half a day running through the woods trying to find a way out. Well he had nothing to lose now. All or nothing.

* * *

“Usanagi had a total of three homes he’d inherited when his parents died and he took over the company. He bought two more.”

Madara nodded looking through the files. “If I were to kidnap someone I would keep them here.”

His colleague nodded. “The penthouse is a bad place to keep someone you don’t want other people to find out about. So are the two mansions in the city. That one is too far away to be comfortable traveling back and forth often enough. So that leaves this one in the woods.”

“We won’t get a court order until tomorrow, maybe the day after. And we might not get it at all.”

“We have to.” Madara was already antsy about those days he had to wait. He wasn’t sure he even could. After seeing Kyo he felt unsure what he would do to Tobirama now that they’d approached him. “Shit. I….”

“You won’t do something stupid like going there without warrant. It might ruin the entire search and the entire court case afterwards. You might lose your badge. Tobirama has been fine until now, he can manage two more days.”

* * *

Every hour that Tobirama was here was spent in absolute panic. He made six mistakes with picking the lock from the house and dealing with security. He made another two mistakes when it came to disabling his tracker and he knew he didn’t have that sort of time. So the moment he could leave. He left. He started running. Getting distance between him and the house. After he got far enough away in the direction he went the first time, the way he knew he wouldn’t reach anything for at least half a day, he slowed down. He moved slower now. He moved in a huge bow around the house and went in the exact opposite direction he ran to but now being very careful not to leave tracks. He wasn’t going to make this easier than it had to be. He had to catch his breath either way. The food and the water he had stolen from the house should be enough to tide him through at least three days and he was going to need to have faith that that would be enough because he couldn’t carry anymore and still be able to move quickly.

The sun was setting and Tobirama started to despair. He seemed to be no closer to any road and even if he got closer to a road, where would he go from there? He hadn’t thought this through.

By dawn the next morning Tobirama did reach a road. It was the sort of road that went through miles of nothingness. What way was there even the slightest chance that he found someone other than Kyo? Was there any chance there would be someone here other than Kyo?

Tobirama still moved through the edges of the forest to give himself some cover for when Kyo came looking. And Kyo did come looking. A car with a person looking suspiciously like Kyo moved on the road four times. Since he didn’t come back Tobirama assumed the way circled around the forest. Tobirama was also tired. He was getting hungry and his water was running out. There had been a creek a while back and he knew that he could probably drink that without dying. Tobirama had always been a realist and he was well aware that this situation was not good. At some point he had to walk next to the road and he might be found. If he didn’t he would be stuck in this damned forest. But there was another problem. He might not be able to reach civilization before his supplies ran out. He could probably find water and some food in the forest. But that once more meant staying in or near the forest. So there was the very real chance of starvation or more likely dehydration if he kept going and he wouldn’t find anything. Now, was dead by dehydration better than being frozen? They both didn’t look like particularly appealing deaths. Well one way had a slight possibility of avoiding death and one way was a certain death. He looked at the sky and started walking. As fast as he could. As careful as he could. He just started walking. By nightfall he had the first glimmer of hope. A farm within walking distance. It wouldn’t take more than an hour. In his surprise and relief he only too late heard the car behind him and he only too late realized it was Kyo. He only too late realized that the small farm just out of reach was a place far enough away that he could never reach it.

* * *

Madara had spent hours upon hours arguing with a judge for a warrant. He refused to back down and eventually he got his way. When he arrived at the house in the forest he noted immediately that he’d been right. There were clothes in Tobirama’s size while Kyo was a good head shorter. There were a few white hairs still stuck in a brush on a dresser. There was the blanket Tobirama had reported missing. There were the locks that only locked from the outside. To lock in, not lock out. There was the slightly frightening signs that someone tried to break out and that there was no Tobirama. Madara could only imagine what would’ve happened to Tobirama when he tried to escape. Could only wonder why now and not at any other time.

“You think he actually escaped?”

“Maybe. I need a search team. If he escaped there is a decent chance he’s lost in the woods.” Madara flinched. “And if he has been caught again we need to find him as soon as possible.”

The search team came and the tried to find him. It took six hours but they did.

* * *

Tobirama had been struggling desperately to get away from Kyo. He argued he pleaded he tried to get away by force. The bruises on his arms showed how well that worked. As soon as he could get loose he tried to run only to be caught once more. He had a swollen ankle and a nasty scratch on his arm. He bit and clawed and eventually just got tied down.

Kyo spend a lot of time just telling Tobirama that he understood he was scared but that everything would be fine. That he would take care of him. That everything would be alright now. He was almost gentle when he laid Tobirama in the ice. He brushed some stray hair from his face and kissed him on his forehead. “Everything will be alright. I’ll protect you.”

Tobirama cried and screamed and desperately tried to get out. When he saw the lid close and all he felt was cold. Then all he felt was numb and he knew that instant that he was going to die. His life would be over. He had some weird vision just before he closed his eye that someone was there to save him. He was fine. He was done. If he’d had to choose between death and Kyo he probably would pick death. Then the lid seemed to be pulled of and he was warm.

* * *

Madara stormed in when Kyo was still cooing over a box. A human sized box. He shoved Kyo away and through the glass lid he saw Tobirama. Tobirama slowly turning blue. He spent a few moments shoving at the box trying to unlock it by pure force of will before shaking Kyo demanding the key. He searched Kyo when he refused and he nearly strangled him when things weren’t going fast enough. He eventually managed to get the box open. The box with a pale, drawn, way too skinny, and way way too cold Tobirama. A Tobirama whose heart was beating, very very slowly, but still steadily.

“Ambulance will be here in a few minutes.” Someone said and Madara didn’t care who it was.

Madara wrapped his jacket and later the jackets of two other people from the search and rescue team and just held Tobirama. Prayer to whatever god was out there that Tobirama would be fine. That he would get through this. That he would get through this as he’d gotten through all the other things in life. Madara would help him get through it if he wanted. For now he just held him and talked to him and hoped that the ambulance would be here soon.

When the ambulance did come and the people pried Tobirama away from Madara he knew he actually had to do his job. He just knew he couldn’t. He knew he might kill Kyo for what he’d done to Tobirama. He knew he might lose any and all control over himself.

“We’ll deal with him. You call the family.”

Madara could do that. He could call Hashirama and tell him they found his brother. He could call Kawarama who had been his best source of information on Tobirama. He could call Itama who’d cried on his couch in Izuna’s chest for weeks. He could call them. That was something he could do. He grabbed his phone and dialled Kawarama’s number. Kawarama who’d been closest to Tobirama. Kawarama who deserved to know first.

“Madara?”

“We found him.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone liked it, this was a bit darker than I originally intended it to be. But I still love all the kudos, comments and bookmarks.  
> Danse Macabre is a classical piece by Camille Saint-Saëns. Which you probably know and if not it's worth a listen. (and even if you don't know the name you've probably heard it at some point).


End file.
